


Out of the blue

by DanzaNelFuoco



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Hogwarts Fourth Year, M/M, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Triwizard Tournament, Yule Ball (Harry Potter), let's pretend we don't know what happens in the other books, still cute and sweet boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 13:29:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18283259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanzaNelFuoco/pseuds/DanzaNelFuoco
Summary: "I don't know how it's possible,” he said, still in shock, but managing to lift his gaze to his friends, “but it seems I'm going to the Ball with Malfoy.”-Or, Harry Potter is an oblivious idiot that can't find a date for the Yule Ball





	Out of the blue

**Author's Note:**

> COW-T #9: Il mago (the wizard)

Harry Potter was desperate. He needed someone to take to the Yule ball and time was running out. He had three days and every single person he asked was already busy.

Cho had a partner. Hermione had a partner. Even Ginny had a partner.

Was every girl in the damn school already taken?

He couldn't go alone - for just a terrible second he had imagined himself not finding any date and been forced to open the ball with professor McGonagall and he was still shivering about that though - so he was rambling in the corridors, stalking every single girl in the attempt to find a dance partner.

Maybe it was his creepy technique, but after an hour - and twelve girls later - he still hadn't a date for the ball. He gave up after a third-year blonde Ravenclaw said him she didn't want to go because decorations were haunted by Nargles.

He found himself wandering in a disused wing of the castle, his hopes of finding a partner awfully demolished. Maybe he could ask Ron if he could lend him Parvati, his date, just for the first dance.

His train of thought was interrupted by agitated whispers coming from an empty classroom near him. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but whispers grew in volume and became perfectly audible from the hallway. Plus Harry recognized Malfoy's voice, so he actually felt authorized to listen in order to know if the Slytherin was planning something.

"Come on, Pansy, I'm begging you."

"I've already told you, Draco, I'm going with Theo."

"Please, I can't go alone."

Harry grinned, Malfoy's pleading tone was music to his ears. 

"Well, you ain't going with me. Since you've made very clear _why_ I can't be your girlfriend..."

"It's only for the first dance, I'm sure Theo can do without you for so little."

"It's not that he can't, it's that I don't want him to."

"I can't go alone, you know how humiliating it would be."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't said no to that Hufflepuff girl that asked you a week ago, you would have a partner by now." She sounded exactly like Hermione when she thought Harry and Ron were behaving like idiots.

“I'm not going with a Hufflepuff” Malfoy said disgustedly. “Besides, you know why I couldn't say yes to her.”

“No one is going to fall in love with you just for a date.” Harry was sure by her tone that Parkinson was rolling her eyes.

“But -”

“And I am sure” she cut him off“that no one is going to put attention on you having a date or not and -”

“Gryffindors -" Draco tried to interrupt her, but she didn't let him.

“And, even if they do, you can bear it. Even Potter doesn't have a date and he is one of the Champions."

Harry cursed under his breath. Perfect, really perfect, even Slytherins knew how awful his situation was!

"Potter doesn't have a date?" Malfoy asked, amazed.

"Yes. And now stop being a drama queen, Draco” she put an end to the discussion.

Harry could take just a few steps back before the door opened and Pansy Parkinson exited. She looked surprised for a second when she spotted him, then, regaining her composure, kept walking without giving him a second glance.

Malfoy followed her out of the classroom after a moment, cursing. Anger glimpsed in his eyes when he saw Harry.

"What do you want, Potter?" he asked mischievously. "Pansy and I were just deciding who, among the people that asked us, we should bring to the Ball. Maybe if you're enough desperate to beg me, I can give you the name of one of my discards."

Harry snorted, amused. "Quit it, Malfoy. You don't have a date."

Malfoy looked taken aback for half a second. "Eavesdropping, Potter? Is that how you're getting a date? By blackmailing a poor girl after finding one of her secrets?"

"I wasn't eavesdropping!" Harry clenched his fist. "And at least I haven't had to beg for a partner. No one wants to go to the Ball with you, eh?"

"Nor with you, apparently." Malfoy talked back.

Harry shut up. There was nothing he could answer.

It was true. No one wanted to go to the Ball with him - nor to Malfoy, to be honest, but this wasn't helping him in any way.

Except -

Now a foolish idea was forming in the maddest part of his mind.

Before he could connect his mouth to the filter in his brain, the one that avoided him to do the mostidiotic things he thought, he blurted out: "Come to the ball with me."

"Excuse me?"

He could sense the stupidity of what he was doing while he was doing it. But desperate times required desperate solutions. "I need a partner and so do you. Come to the ball with me."

"Are you serious?"

Harry swallowed, forcing himself to hold on his purpose. "Yeah."

Malfoy was astonished. "You're insane! Bobotuber pus has gone to your head." He hurried away, looking at him as if he had grown another head.

"Yeah, probably" Harry answered at the empty hallway, his voice fading away.

What the hell was he thinking?

 

* * *

 

What the hell was he thinking?

Harry brushed his face and tried to focus on his homework.

The library was empty since Christmas was near, but he and Ron were trying to keep up with Hermione's study plan. Harry, however, hadn't really paid attention to professor Binn's explanation of the umpteenth goblin revolution of the thirteenth century - or was it the fifteenth? He hadn't actually written notes - so he was now struggling with the fact that he didn't even know where to start reading his book. Furthermore, the silence of the library was actually making it difficult for him not to fall asleep, since he hadn’t slept much during the night.

Again, what the hell was he thinking? Asking Malfoy for the Ball… he was nuts.

It was the most embarrassing thing he had ever done - even more than asking Cho, who at least was a girl and didn’t hate him. He still couldn’t figure out why he did it, he was Malfoy, damn it! He should have laughed at the bloody Ferret, mocking him because even Pansy Parkinson wouldn’t go to the Ball with him. He certainly should have never asked him out.

_What the hell was I thinking?_

He had spent the entire night playing back and forth the scene in his head - what did Malfoy say, what did _he_ answer, how the Slytherin was looking at him, how on Earth did he come up with such a beat-up plan for the Ball - and he couldn’t find a proper answer.

He got distracted by the growling made by Ron's stomach. When he checked his watch, it told him it was lunch time, so they started gathering their things.

“Are you ok, Harry?” asked Hermione, collecting her books and parchments.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You seemed distracted -”

“Come on, Hermione. It's almost Christmas, even you got distracted a few times, I saw you watching out the windows at least thrice” Ron stopped her.

Hermione dropped the argument and the three of them headed to the Great Hall for lunch.

“So, have you find a partner for the Yule Ball?” asked Ron, interested to know if Harry’s plan had been successful.

Harry sighed. “No, and I asked every girl I met.” He passed his hand through his hair. “By the way, Hermione, do you happen to know what a Nargle is?”

“A Nargle?” she looked perplexed. “Never heard of it. I should just do some research, see if I found something. Why do you ask? Do you think it’s related to the second task? We where in the library just now, we could have checked”

“Nah. Forget about it. A girl just said -”

But Harry’s explanation was interrupted.

“Potter, a word.”

Harry turned to see Draco Malfoy standing alone in the middle of the hallway, Crabbe, and Goyle nowhere to be seen.

“What would you possibly want from Harry? Reading him again Rita Skeeter's article?” snapped Ron, ready to fight. Hermione had her wand out, prepared to defend herself or hex him should he attack them. But Malfoy's hands were empty, his tone was not particularly sarcastic or malevolent and, to Harry's surprise, he wasn't even wearing a POTTER STINKS pin on his robes.

“I just wanted to tell him that's fine,” he said sharply, biting his tongue to not add a snarky remark about Weasley's nosiness.

“What are you talking about?” asked Harry, caught off guard.

“The thing you asked me yesterday. The answer is: fine, I'll do it” Malfoy repeated slowly as if he were talking to a dumb child. He managed to make it seem insulting even without saying anything offensive at all.

“Are you kidding me?”

“Are you withdrawing?” Malfoy tilted his head, with a smirk.

“No,” Harry said vehemently. “Not at all.” Withdraw wasn't in the vocabulary of a Gryffindor.

If Malfoy was surprised or expected Harry to refuse, he didn’t show it. “Ok, then. I'll talk with you later about the details.” He turned on his heels and walked away without giving him the time for an appropriate answer.

Harry stared blankly ahead, not knowing if this was an improvement or if he went from the frying pan to the fire.

“What was that about?” asked Ron, puzzled.

“Harry, if he's forcing you - challenging you to do something against the rules -” Hermione started worried, but Harry shook his head.

"I don't know how it's possible,” he said, still in shock, but managing to lift his gaze to his friends, “but it seems I'm going to the Ball with Malfoy.”

“You are doing _what_?!” Hermione asked in disbelief, while Ron was trying not to choke.

“I’m - I'm going to the Yule Ball with Draco Malfoy.”

“How?” asked Hermione, since Ron was as red as his hair for the lack of oxygen and trying to regain his breath.

Harry explained what had happened the evening before, leaving out his sleepless night.

"It's a trick" sentenced Ron eventually.

"Yeah, I was just thinking so, but..." he let out a sigh. "It's not like I have another choice."

"I'll go with you," said Hermione. "I'm not letting you go with Malfoy."

"I knew you didn't have a partner! I knew it!" exulted Ron.

Hermione pursed her lips in what seemed a realistic and scaring imitation of McGonagall's worst disappointed expression and Ron stopped immediately.

“I was going with Viktor Krum, just so that you know. But I'm sure he won't have any problem in finding someone else, unlike Harry.”

“You were going with Krum?” Ron's jaw dropped so much it was almost touching the ground.

“Yes, is it that so much impossible?” she snapped, daring him to say no.

Ron closed his mouth without answering.

“I just need to make some arrangements" she started organizing, talking too fast even for herself. "I'm sure Viktor will understand…” Harry could tell she was unhappy, but she would do it anyway because of him “I mean he - he surely will find another fan - someone more than willing to go with him…”

“Hermione” he stopped her. “Thanks, but no. I'm not letting you dump Viktor Krum just because I'm an idiot. Go with him. You deserve it.”

She widened her eyes, surprised. “But Harry -”

"I'll be fine" he tried to convince himself as much as her. “It can't be harder than facing a Horntail, can it?”

Ron said nothing, but he wasn't very pleased. Anyway, Harry though his mood was more about Hermione going with Krum than him going with Malfoy.

“Harry, are you sure?”asked Hermione again, but he could see her eyes were already brightened.

“Yes, don't worry.”

The three stood in silence for a minute, each trying to figure if there was another way out.

“So... it's Malfoy, then” stated Ron, giving up on thinking and putting his hands in the pockets of his robes.

“I - Yeah.” 

“Honestly, Harry, one would think you would talk about it to your friends instead of throwing it at them like that,” said Hermione in a complaining tone similar to the one used by Parkinson when she was talking to Malfoy.

“At least we got to know it before the others. Do you imagine finding it out by see them dancing together?" Ron let the rhetorical question linger between them with all its consequences. “This will be a hell of a coming out.”

Maybe Harry was dumb, but he didn't understand. “Coming out?” 

“As gay”clarified Hermione.

“Gay?”

“Dude, you're gonna dance with a bloke. What message do you think the whole school will get?”asked Ron, raising his eyebrows.

“I'm not -” started Harry, caught off guard. Then frowned. “Am I gay?”

Hermione snorted. “You are the one who asked Malfoy out.”

“I didn’t -” he started again but stopped seeing Hermione's expression. “Merlin, I _did_ ask him out” he seemed to suddenly realize, his eyes widened.

“There's nothing wrong with it.”

“If you don't count the fact that is Malfoy who you asked out” added Ron.

“I was talking about him being gay” replied Hermione, annoyed.

“I know” Ron rolled his eyes. “I was joking.”

But Harry wasn't listening to their spat, too much focused on the implication of what all that meant. “I _am_ gay.” 

That silenced both of them.

“Well, if you fancy Malfoy -”

“I don't know” Harry blurted out, interrupting Hermione. “I don't know why I invited him. It just came to my mind and I did it. I -” he struggled to continue. “It's not as if he had ever been kind to us.”

“So you don’t know if you fancy him, but you fancy boys in general?”

“I-” Harry looked at a loss. “I don’t know. I like Cho, too, so… does it classify as gay?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you could write to my brother Charlie for some advice" Ron said thoughtfully. "He is undoubtedly gay. He could help you sorting things out" he added, seeing his friends' puzzled expressions.

“Writing to your brother about my gay issues?” asked Harry, not convinced.

“It's actually a good idea, having someone who you could talk to that can understand you and it’s not like you can go ask McGonagall about it” intervened Hermione. “Actually, you can’t be the only non-straight guy in Hogwarts. There should be an extracurricular club about it, we can found it!”

“Are you thinking about another S.P.E.W.?”

“Why not? Of course, we’ll need a better name.”

“I know you mean well, Hermione, but let’s not put the cart before the horse” Ron stopped her.

“One step at the time, let’s help Harry before we switch to the whole school. I can mention him in my next letter to Charlie, asking if he can give some advice to figure himself out. He's a private person, he won't say anything to anyone, not even to Mum" offered Ron.

“I - don’t know. I - Ok” he ended up, passing a hand through his hair. “Now, we should hurry to lunch, before it's over."

They head to the Great Hall, hoping to find some remaining food.

"Oh!" Hermione stopped pacing suddenly. "We were so focused on your sexual crisis that we didn't notice!"

"What?" asked both Harry and Ron, turning to her. They didn't notice her stopping and were a few steps ahead.

"If you are gay or whatever, then Malfoy must be as well, or he wouldn't have agreed to go with you." She looked excited, almost jumping when she started walking again. "More than that, he might fancy you back! I mean, everything he did in this years was to annoy you, to get your attention!"

“Hermione, first, I’m not sure I fancy him and, second, don't go too far. Maybe this is just another way to humiliate me. Maybe he will turn up at the Ball with Parkinson leaving me there impaled like a codfish."

"Yeah, well, I'll guess we'll find out."

They quitted the conversation as they entered the Great Hall.

"Oh, Harry! I hope you had found a partner for the Ball."

Harry turned around just to see the blonde Ravenclaw he had to ask out the evening before. "Yeah, I - I have."

"Then keep her away from the decorated trees, they're full of Nargles. You don't want to mess with them" she said very seriously.

"Oh, well, er - thank you. I will. Keep, er - keep _her_ away from the threes."

With a nod, the girl left and Harry hurried with his friend to their table, where he could see desserts were being served.

" _Her_?" asked Hermione in a disapproving tone. "Do you realize you can't keep it secret forever, don't you? The whole school is gonna see you two dancing together."

"Don't remind me" he sighed, taking a seat.

"So you _did_ find a partner!" exclaimed Ginny, who was sitting exactly in front of him and overheard the conversation. "Who's she?"

“Er - actually -"

"Why don't you mind your business, Ginny? You'll find out tomorrow" snapped Ron.

She looked taken aback for a second, then her expression changed in disappointment. "Fine, don't tell me."

Harry couldn't help feeling relieved, even if he was sorry for Ginny. "Thank you" he muttered with his face buried in his cup so that just Ron could hear him.

 

* * *

 

It was the first time in Harry's life when Christmas at Hogwarts was not Christmas. Of course, he still woke up like every Christmas - unless you count that this year he also got Dobby to frighten him awake - with a stack of gifts at the end of his bed, he still had breakfast with his friends and he still had countless chess games with Ron, but he couldn't make himself forget that it was also the day of the Yule Ball.

Anxiety was eating him from the inside, especially since at breakfast he got a message delivered by an owl where Malfoy asked him to meet after lunch.

It was a relief when morning finally ended and he could shove some tasteless food down his mouth before heading to the empty classroom Malfoy had asked - more like ordered - him to meet. Thing was, for as much the morning had seemed to be dragging on forever, now that he was about to face the situation he was dreading it.

He stood in front of the door, trying to decide whether it was a trap or not. Was the cunning Slytherin waiting for him, wand in his hand, ready to fight him? Or was Harry just actually scared of - oh, no, no way Harry was scared of Draco Malfoy. Putting his hand on the doorknob, he turned it and opened the door.

Malfoy did indeed have his wand drawn, but not in an attack position. “Took you long enough” he welcomed him emotionless. “Well, at least you brought your robes. Ah, bottle green. Not my favorite shade, but acceptable. It will take less work than I had imagined. Maybe some black insertion? I’m keeping my dress black. Maybe I can put some green in my dress?” he talked to himself, ignoring Harry as if he wasn’t even in the room, tapping a finger against his chin, thoughtfully.

“What’s this crap about modifying our robes?”

Malfoy was snapped out of his considerations. “The Yule ball is quite a formal ceremony and people attending to it should be dressed accordingly. I will not demote myself by not making sure we are not dressed in the best way possible. Thus we will Transfigurate our dress to match, at least a little bit.”

“But it will look like we planned to go together all along!”

“No, it will look like one of us is very good at Transfiguration” Draco countered.

“I won’t change my dress!”

“I’ll do it, Potter, I wouldn’t want you to ruin the dress and being forced to go naked” he mocked the other. 

“I don’t want to match with you!”

“Then you don’t wanna go with me and I’ll dump you now.”

“You wouldn't have a partner for the Ball.”

“Nor would you. And you are a Champion, so you better indulge me.” 

“This is blackmailing.”

“No, this is compromise.”

Harry looked taken aback. “Ok?” He frowned, wondering where was the catch. “I can work with compromise.”

“Better than blackmailing, you daft Gryffindor.”

Draco turned to the dresses laid on the desk and started to spell them, giving his robe some green details and changing some of Harry’s into black.

“That will make you look like a vicary” Harry tried to be helpful, pointing at the collar of Malfoy’s dress. 

“A what?”

“A Muggle priest.” Harry didn't know if his explanation was explaining at all, but apparently, it was enough for Malfoy since he muttered a spell and cut the collar of his robe with a rapid movement of his wand. 

“I don't want to look like a Muggle,” he said. “See? Much better, both of our dresses.”

“I can’t avoid feeling like you’ve tricked me.”

“Oh, well, it comes with the territory” Draco smiled, viciously. “Slytherin and all.” Looking at the robes in front of him, he smiled satisfied. “Perfect. They are good as they can be. I think we are done, here.” 

“Why did you say yes?” asked Harry, suddenly serious, before Malfoy could escape.

“Why did you ask me?” retorted Draco.

“I was in desperate need of a partner. And Hermione thinks I fancy you.”

“You do what?”

“I'm not sure.”

“How could you be not sure?”

Harry shrugged.

“You asked me out and you don’t even know if you fancy me?!” Draco shrieked, refraining from grabbing Harry’s collar to shake him, but still finding himself a little too close to the Gryffindor.

“Do you?” retorted Harry, taking a step forward, “Fancy me, I mean?”

Draco blushed, averting his gaze, then Harry was carelessly kissing him, gathering all his Gryffindor recklessness for it and saying the hell with it, at worst he would get hexed.

Kissing a boy was totally different from what Harry would have imagined, Draco’s lips were soft and greedy, almost fighting with his own for predominance.

“You are thick, aren't you?” Draco murmured against his lips when they parted to catch a breath, before realizing what he was doing and taking a step back. “You should go. We - we need to get prepared.”

“Ye - yeah.”

He wanted to seek confirmation that they were going to the Ball together, that this didn't change anything. But he had still a bit of dignity, or maybe it was pride, so he walked away.

 

 

* * *

 

“So, where's your partner Harry?” Dean asked

“Yes, Harry, where’s your partner” Ron mocked him.

“Coming, I suppose.” 

“Hey, mate” Seamus catches up with them, “you look nervous."

“I am nervous.”

“Oh, fantastic!” whined Dean, before anyone could inquire about Harry’s partner any longer, “Malfoy’s coming this way. Just what we needed! Slytherins.”

And a group of Slytherin was indeed coming up the steps from their dungeon common room, with Malfoy in the front and headed to their group.

“Oh, look at him! I bet that prima donna is gonna throw a tantrum!”

“Why do you say so?” asked Harry

“Your robes and Malfoy's are quite similar.”

“Of course they are, Finnegan. I didn't spend a whole afternoon Transfigurating them just to make them mismatched.” 

Dean and Seamus frowned but before they could ask any sort of explanation professor McGonagall stormed into the group.

“Mr. Potter, the Champions and their partners are required at the entrance of the Great Hall. You better be moving.” She indicated a point near the opened doors where Harry could see the other Champions waiting. McGonagall scanned the group and then lifted her gaze to the room where couples kept entering the Great Hall as if she expected to see some girl heading their direction. “Because I suppose you _do_ have a partner, since I specifically told you that you must have one.”

Harry felt his face burning. He thought he should be as red as Ron's hair.

Said red-headed friend snorted, trying to suppress his giggles.

“Er - yes, professor. I do have a partner,” he turned to Malfoy. "Shall we go?"

Malfoy gave away is imperturbability with cheeks as red as Harry's but he pretended a self-confidence that he hadn't and nodded, taking him by the arm. “Of course.”

Harry didn't dare to turn around to see the disbelief in McGonagall's face, but he could hear the stunned exclamations coming from the group.

“Oh, you should see your faces!” Ron was saying, trying to catch his breath between the waves of laughter.

“You _did_ know?" managed to articulate Seamus.

“Indeed, Mr. Weasley, you knew? With Mr. Malfoy?” asked McGonagall, professionally trying to hide her surprise.

Harry couldn't hear Ron's answer or anything else as he was too far from them now, but he betted he was still laughing his ass off.

 


End file.
